RTI reveals increasing cases of dog bites in Mumbai
5 Jun, 2013An application was filed with Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC or Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of dog bites and deaths due to canine attacks in the city.
The reply from the BMC shows that while the number of cases of dog bites have been increasing, total number of fatalities caused have decreased. The reply states that in 2013, there have been 23,664 cases of dog bite reported till April. This implies around 2000-3000 increased instances of dog bites per year.
However, the reply to the application states that the number of deaths due to dog bites has decreased over the years. A civic hospital had earlier shown that in 2008 census, total number of dog licenses were 7,007 while the actual pet population of the city was around 27,000. It is to be mentioned that only vaccinated dogs are granted licenses as part of rabies control measures.